Advancing BIG WATER

By Caryn Smith, Publisher & Chief Content Officer, IFN

New emerging technologies and equipment are geared to improve segments in the industrial filtration, such as filtering PFAS, reusing wastewater, and adding efficiencies to aging systems. This new feature will keep readers ‘in the know’ about what hits IFN’s inbox on all things industrial water.

What’s driving change in this segment? For one, legislators in the U.S. are taking note of opportunities to reuse wastewater. In fact, in April, U.S. House of Representatives Darin LaHood (R-IL), Claudia Tenney (R-NY), Linda Sanchez (D-CA), and Brad Schneider (D-IL) introduced the Advancing Water Reuse Act (H.R.2940), which aims to catalyze the use of recycled water by manufacturers, data centers, and other industrial entities.

The WateRuse Association applauded the action. Bart Weiss, President of the Association, said, “Whether it’s supporting the AI revolution or boosting American manufacturing, the Advancing Water Reuse Act will help ensure that businesses have long-term, reliable water supplies and that community water resources are protected.”

While nearly 70 percent of the planet is covered by water, only 2.5 percent is freshwater, and only 1 percent is accessible. Industrial water use in the U.S. is second only to agribusiness in terms of water usage, and current industrial water reuse offsets only a fraction of this. The Advancing Water Reuse Act will create opportunities for businesses to expand operations and grow jobs while also protecting local water resources by establishing an Investment Tax Credit (ITC) for industrial water reuse. By incentivizing investments in water reuse, the Advancing Water Reuse Act will help protect water quality by limiting discharges of industrial effluent, reducing demand on freshwater supplies, and catalyzing business development and job growth.

A growing industry means an increasing water demand. U.S. data centers, for example, are expected to consume up to 33 billion gallons of water in 2028. Hyperscale data centers alone will use as much water as 299,154 households. A single semiconductor chip manufacturing facility can use as much water as a small- to midsize city (tens of millions of gallons per day).

Meanwhile, the European Union revised its Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive (UWWTD) in January 2025. The revised UWWTD now includes two urban areas with populations of 1,000 inhabitants. This ensures that smaller communities also implement proper wastewater collection and treatment systems. Secondary treatment will become obligatory for these communities by 2035. It covers extra treatment, extended producer responsibility, and measures to play an important role in significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions and helping the EU achieve its climate neutrality objective.

This revised UWWTD has received much pushback and controversy, mainly in the extended producer responsibility arena. Some sectors find it unfair that the EPR scheme mandates that the pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries cover at least 80% of the costs for quaternary treatment. Also, the European Chemical Industry Council (Cefic) warned against the broad definition of ‘micro-pollutants,’ which could encompass thousands of substances, potentially making the scheme unmanageable. They also made the case that the UWWTD should distribute pollution mitigation costs more fairly among all stakeholders, including producers, consumers, and recyclers, rather than placing the financial burden predominantly on producers.

While those initiatives play out on the world stage, industry is innovating.

The New

NWPX Park delivers pre-engineered, fully integrated, and automated systems that improve efficiency, safety, and environmental compliance. The company recently announced its PumpTrooper® Lift Stations, an advanced and comprehensive solution for wastewater and stormwater conveyance across diverse industries. These fully integrated and automated stations offer dependable fluid transfer, easy installation, and versatile applications, minimizing installation time, jobsite delays, and construction costs. NWPX Park is a part of the NWPX Infrastructure, a global player in the design and construction of innovative water utilities and environmental solutions.

The PumpTrooper® Lift Station package includes a concrete wet well, internal piping and valves, and a range of pump options such as axial flow, non-clog, grinder, and vertical turbine pumps. This process eliminates the coordination of multiple suppliers and ensures system compatibility. Automation is central to the system, with a control panel that monitors liquid level, pressure, and flow with sensors. These systems operate continuously and automatically alternate pumps to balance use and extend equipment life. Visual and audible alarms, along with email alerts and a web-based and mobile application, can notify operators immediately of any high water, pump failure, or maintenance issue.

In another equipment innovation, the National Pump Company, a recognized market leader in vertical turbine pumps, announced its newest line, showcasing at the upcoming WEFTEC 2025, September 27 - October 1. The H28MC and H28LC 28inch pumps were designed, engineered, manufactured, and performance-tested at NPC’s NSF 61 and ISO 9001 certified facility in Glendale, Arizona, ensuring the highest standards of quality and reliability. They were developed to bridge the gap between NPC’s existing H24 and H30 models, addressing the need for highvolume flow in demanding applications. Utilizing advanced Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) flow simulation for efficiency and Finite Element Analy- sis (FEA) for optimal strength-to-weight ratios, these pumps set a new benchmark for performance and are customizable for exact needs. The H28MC model has demonstrated impressive capability, recently shipping to Wyoming to provide up to 10,500 gallons per minute powered by a 500-horsepower motor. At their Best Efficiency Points, the H28MC achieves 14,750 gallons per minute at 143 feet per stage, while the H28LC delivers 13,250 gallons per minute at 131 feet per stage, both operating at 1,180 RPM with up to 87% efficiency. With a specific speed range of 3,600 to 3,800, maximum power rating of 2,000 horsepower, and maximum head of 1,500 feet, these models can be customized for up to seven stages to meet a variety of project specifications.

The Emerging

Active Membrane’s corporate mission is to address global freshwater scarcity by providing more fresh water at a lower cost. The company has met a significant milestone in fulfilling this noble endeavor. Their new membrane technology could expand access to water for agricultural and industrial segments.

Active membranes are used in the reverse-osmosis desalination process and equipped with electrical conductivity, it improves their ability to separate salts and other contaminants from hard-to-treat waters. The company has received funding from the National Alliance for Water Innovation (NAWI), a public-private partnership led by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab). NAWI's Executive Director, Peter Fiske, validated the discovery, saying, “In a normal oil well, there is far more produced water than oil, and the disposal of this water often limits oil and gas production. Treating and desalinating produced water could allow this ‘wastewater’ to become a source of irrigation for agriculture.”

The build-up of salts and organic matter on the membrane is a common problem with membrane-based water purification – two phenomena that are called “scaling” and “fouling,” respectively. Active Membrane has developed a novel approach to keep membranes clean. By applying an ultra-thin, electrically conductive coating on top of the membrane and then charging the surface with low voltage, the salt ions and other charged species in the water are pushed away from the membrane surface, reducing scaling and fouling. In a recent field pilot in Ventura County, CA, which tested the electrically “active” membranes against conventional membranes, the active membranes demonstrated a 2030% improvement in water production.

This technology could improve the odds of achieving clean water from hard-to-treat waters. Approximately 40 percent of the U.S. water supply comes from underground water reserves. Still, far more brackish groundwater is available – much of it too salty from calcium and magnesium content; however, it is not suitable for practical use. By sufficiently treating brackish groundwater to separate salts and other contaminants, the U.S. could significantly expand its available water supply.

The Ones to Watch

The HCL Group, a global conglomerate, and UpLink, the World Economic Forum’s early-stage innovation initiative, set out to advance water innovation and ‘aquapreneurship’ through their joint Tackling Water Pollution Challenge. Ten Aquapreneurs were selected from over 270 applicants in 2025’s third of five challenges under the five-year CHF 15 million Aquapreneur Innovation Initiative launched by HCL Group. In addition to the financial awards, the winners will have the

The 2025 Tackling Water Pollution Challenge Winners

 Aquagga, United States of America , focuses on innovative PFAS destruction using its Hydrothermal Alkaline Treatment (HALT) technology for environmental remediation and wastewater treatment.

 Digital Paani, India , focuses on enhancing operational excellence in water treatment, addressing water scarcity and pollution through scalable solutions in under-resourced areas.

 Fluidion, France , advances water intelligence with innovative sampling solutions that monitor pollution and water quality across urban, natural, and industrial environments.

 FREDsense, Canada , provides in-field lab-based water quality testing solutions, empowering utilities and environmental consultants with real-time, accurate data for effective water management.

 Fungi Life, Colombia , uses fungal biotechnology to create sustainable ingredients, aiming for net-zero emissions by revalorizing agro-industrial waste for environmental sustainability.

 Mimbly, Sweden, optimizes water resources in the laundry industry through innovative recycling and filtration solutions, promoting sustainability with advanced water-saving technologies. opportunity to participate in events and projects led by the World Economic Forum and its partners. These opportunities will provide invaluable support to scale their ventures, ensuring sustainable and impactful solutions for water challenges.

 Oxyle, Switzerland , offers an economical, sustainable solution to PFAS contamination by completely eliminating PFAS from water, empowering industrial and environmental remediation companies to tackle contamination effectively.

 SENTRY, Canada, is a biological activity and water quality monitoring platform that uses unique bio-electrode sensor technology for real-time microbial performance monitoring in wastewater treatment systems.

 Syrinx, Australia , offers innovative water treatment solutions with its nature-based ‘Wetland-in-a-Box’® (EnPhytoBox), addressing water pollution and boosting climate resilience, especially in agriculture.

 WASE, United Kingdom , treats industrial wastewater onsite, helping customers comply with regulations, maximize bioenergy generation, and decarbonize thermal energy demands through sustainable, economically viable solutions.

Roshni Nadar Malhotra, Chairperson of HCL Group, said, “Water scarcity and pollution are existential threats to humanity and biodiversity. The Aquapreneur Innovation Initiative, launched a couple of years ago, aims to discover and support the most innovative startups and scale-ups tackling the world’s most pressing water issues. The 20 pioneering start-ups who were winners of the previous two challenges have collectively gone on to achieve immense success.”

“In 2024 alone, these startups helped save over 12 billion litres of water, equivalent to Switzerland’s entire water footprint each year,” Malhotra continued. “They also treated 3 billion litres of wastewater. The Grant provided by HCL enabled them to expand to new markets, deploy pilot projects, increase customer count, and scale up production and operations. These 20 start-ups have raised US$70 million in funding since joining the Initiative.”